European Parliament calls on Commission and Member States to address the diabetes epidemic

On 14 March 2012, the Europ [2]ean Parliament adopted by a large majority a Resolution on Addressing the EU Diabetes Epidemic, calling on the Commission and Member States to develop and implement a targeted EU Diabetes Strategy in the form of an EU Council Recommendation on diabetes prevention, diagnosis, management, education and research.

The resolution sends out a strong political message that the diabetes epidemic is a pressing issue. There are now more than 32 million EU citizens living with diabetes, which amounts to 8.1% of the adult population. This figure is set to rise to 50 million – 10% of the EU population – by 2025. Besides, Europe has the highest numbers of children with Type 1 diabetes. Each year, diabetes and related complications claim the lives of 325,000 EU citizens.

IDF Europe congratulates the European Parliament on its commitment and thanks the EUDWG MEP Co-Chairs Simon Busuttil (Malta, EPP), Sarah Ludford (United Kingdom, ALDE), Marisa Matias (Portugal, GUE/NGL) and Christel Schademose (Denmark, S&D) and EUDWG Members for their continuous support and commitment in the fight against diabetes.

• For the footage of the debate of the plenary session, click here [3]
• For the text of the Resolution, click here [2]
• For the press release, click here [4]